Article Reprint

Nils Farstad, quality assurance manager of raw materials of the Norwegian-owned fish company, Frionor USA, documents his company's real time inspection experience. The company chases fish worldwide, from on-ship or on-land processing plants, in 16½-pound, rectangular deep frozen fillet blocks 19 x 10 x 2½ inches.

Farstad states, "Our third generation foreign body detection system gives us a competitive quality edge over our competitors. Purchased fish is true 'catch of the day.' All received shipments may contain anything from Cod, Hake and Haddock to Pollock and Whiting.

"After processing at Frionor, the fillet blocks are delivered primarily to foodservice companies in the form of fish sticks, individual portions or nuggets. The Frionor inspection process is part of a U.S. Government program that establishes a given number of blocks to be inspected, out of each quantity shipment."

The number of inspected blocks varies according to the incoming lot size and lot size may range from 600 to 35,000 pounds, Farstad notes. "Without X-ray capability, the government mandates that at least 20% of each lot must be inspected, requiring that the blocks are 'slacked-out' (thawed) for manual inspection. Manual inspection is an inefficient, time consuming and very costly inspection process."

During X-ray scanning, each frozen block travels under the beam for half a minute. In the normal X-ray operating mode, bones and other objects show up as dark shadows. In a contrast mode, they show up as lighter shadows. The inspector can stop the inspection process at any time and enlarge the image for closer inspection.

According to Frank Scelzi, president of Nationwide Inspection Systems, Inc. his company's modular automated X-ray inspection systems take the drudgery and possible human error out of manual inspection typically found in food and drug manufacturing plants. Scelzi says, "The key to success of a system is the ability to tailor a conveying function to the needs of a specific 

Frozen fish blocks enter the X-ray inspection system via a powered conveyor that uses motorized pulleys to match its speed to the needs of the inspection system.

Motorized Pulleys Perform

PowerRoll motorized pulleys from Interroll Corp. require less space and have considerably higher operating efficiency than conventional belt conveyor drives. The pulleys provide reliable and maintenance-free operation in industrial and agricultural applications, even when operating under the most rugged conditions.

The internally powered PowerRoll gives systems designers the flexibility to pack more conveyor drive power into less space. Drive efficiency is improved more than 35% when compared to conventional "multi-component" drive systems that rely on separate motors, worm-gear reducers, chains, sprockets or couplings. As a result, the fully-rated horsepower of the drive is available at the pulley surface.

Horsepowers range from 0.03hp up to 0.30hp. The motorized pulleys are available in 10 standard lengths ranging from 10 to 25 inches, providing a range of fully loaded conveyor belt speeds of from 24 to 240 feet per minute.

All rotating components of the PowerRoll are housed within the pulley shell, protected from dirt, dust, moisture and other contaminants-- virtually eliminating the need for maintenance.

In food handling or other applications where cleanliness is crucial, a PowerRoll with stainless steel construction will tolerate repeated high-pressure washdowns using hot water and strong detergents.

For more information from Nationwide Inspection Systems, Inc., call (727) 398-4349. For information from Interroll Corp., call 800-361-9616.